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NewnImproved
@74.129.21.x

1 recommendation

NewnImproved

Anon

UPDATE!!!COUPON PRINTER PROGRAM MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!

I am going to find out what is going on so this will be re-posted EVERYWHERE.

1. My girlfriend wanted to install coupon printer on her computer. I advised against it but she really wanted the coupons so I said ok but be careful. What has come of this is so scary and I know there has to be something illegal going on here. I'm getting coupons sent in the mail about my ailments such as dental problems and stomach problems for prilosec IN MY NAME. I don't own the house, she does. There is nothing on her computer about me as I do not use it. I'm not even listed as a resident. RedPlum is the company that makes the program or Valassis? BOTH their names are written on the coupons in very small print from and underneath that where is it from....ONE TARGETING CENTRE, Windsor, CT 06095. WHAT?!? I feel there is an intrusion into my privacy here. I am going to find out what they are doing. This is very wrong. Once I research this fully I would like to get as many people as I can and there will be a class action suit very, very soon. This needs to stop.

Snowy
Lock him up!!!
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI

1 recommendation

Snowy

Premium Member

I'll agree that installing any coupon printer is not a privacy enhancing thing to do but it's not as if all your stuff exits in a vacuum.
You're placing all the blame on the coupon printer install when it's probably just one dot in a game of connect the dots or was the engine that that pulled all your dots together into one defined profile.

You seem to be suggesting that some private data base is being illegally accessed when the reality is "they" don't need to do that.
Your stuff is out there, whether from a tweet saying you're going to the dentist to a co-worker complaining about the extra workload because you were out sick @the dentist.

Remaining anon is not the norm - it's a purposeful effort that a few slip ups can permanently undo.
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

2 recommendations

dave to NewnImproved

Premium Member

to NewnImproved
Seems much more plausible to me that (a) you spent some money using plastic, (b) the credit card company has your name and address, (c) the store and/or credit company sold a mailing list with you on it. I don't see that the coupon-program needed to be involved at all.

anonomeX
@71.207.157.x

anonomeX to NewnImproved

Anon

to NewnImproved
said by NewnImproved :

I'm getting coupons sent in the mail ... [from] RedPlum

Sounds like the typical USPS stuff--can't hide from them--and possibly only coincidental to any coupon program installs.
Expand your moderator at work

Snowy
Lock him up!!!
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI

Snowy to dave

Premium Member

to dave

Re: UPDATE!!!COUPON PRINTER PROGRAM MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!

said by dave:


I don't see that the coupon-program needed to be involved at all.

I completely agree that is a real possibility.
Laying blame on the GF via the printer install is not fair to the GF on many levels.
Kudo's for bringing that up.

DrStrange
Technically feasible
Premium Member
join:2001-07-23
Bristol, CT

DrStrange to NewnImproved

Premium Member

to NewnImproved
I live about 10 miles from there. I have half a mind to drive over there and give them a piece of my mind. For their sake it'd better be a mail drop.

If it is based in CT, contact the state Consumer Protection department.
»www.ct.gov/dcp/site/default.asp
Expand your moderator at work

NewnImproved
@74.129.21.x

NewnImproved to DrStrange

Anon

to DrStrange

Thats hilarious.

This company is shady at best. If I find out how they are taking searches that my girlfriend does for coupons for me and why they send them directly to me I'm probably going to do more than the CPA. I've posted responses to the other posts but I can't see them. They are all wrong. I don't have credit cards, I don't put my name ANYWHERE and I know how the USPS functions. This is nothing like I've ever seen before. 1st time was strange. 2nd was coincidence 3rd time was jaw dropping. Like i said (don't know if it posted on the forum as I'm new and have never posted to a single forum before) These not only seemed as if they were in response to what she searched for they actually WERE responses, literally! lol this is too strange. I'm off the grid I don't use social media, my phone is in a different name I live with my girlfriend and am very very private. There is a breach and it seems that it was this program. The informational vacuum the guy said before- yes there was an informational vacuum when it concerns me and this .EXE sucked me into it somehow.

carpetshark3
Premium Member
join:2004-02-12
Idledale, CO

carpetshark3 to NewnImproved

Premium Member

to NewnImproved

Re: UPDATE!!!COUPON PRINTER PROGRAM MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!

GF also using FB/Twitter? If she posts to relatives/friends about any problems you may have conversationally, and the coupon company can follow, you can get crap. Especially from shady companies. Go back and totally read the TOS to the program.

Everything says Follow me or Like me on Twitter or FB. If she follows to get better coupons -

To be fair, some of the offers for coupons probably are legitimate. That's why you need to find out who is affiliated with coupon company.

I still have some forums where anything following the forum is listed. Including bots.
Bots love info.

If it is that, then any problems are between you and GF.

Maybe a couple of affiliates have rights you don't want. I've seen that by reading TOS. Barnes & Nobel had 2 affiliates you could not block or opt out of listed in the TOS a couple of years ago. That meant that affiliates could market to you at will. A few people went back and looked at the B&N TOS, and said they had never noticed that.

Handcent for Android wanted more than I wanted them to have - app uninstalled.

Some stuff is age related. Whatever is in gov. files as public record- birth certificate, driver's license, legal actions, etc. are fair game. Once you hit 50, AARP starts to send crap whether you want it or not. So do hearing aid companies, and other services that feed off seniors. They can search, or get the info from AARP.

Chubbzie
join:2014-02-11
Greenville, NC
Hitron CDA3
(Software) OpenBSD + pf

Chubbzie to NewnImproved

Member

to NewnImproved
"Information that Valassis Collects When You Use the Valassis Properties: When you use the Valassis Properties, we collect information about how you interact with the Valassis Properties. We use cookies, web beacons and other Data Collection Technologies (defined in Section 4c below) to collect this information, which may include IP address, domain name, browser type, mobile service provider, mobile device type, operating system type, web pages viewed, access date and time, referring website address and website address of the web page you visit after you leave the Valassis Properties. Some of the information collected may be Personal Information.

Some of the emails that we send to you may include a click-through link. Before you arrive at the linked website, you pass through our servers. We track these 'click-throughs' to help us determine your interest in particular topics and measure the effectiveness of our customer communications."

RedPlum/Valassis Privacy
Nanaki (banned)
aka novaflare. pull punches? Na
join:2002-01-24
Akron, OH

Nanaki (banned)

Member

Redplum has been in mass marketing for decades. They know all the tricks to information gathering. I would never install their crap period. It would not surprise me to see something along the lines of we gather information on what you type in to any and all text fields via web browser and text documents.

Back in the 90s you had to sign many of their postal mailed and news paper delivered coupons. The practice did not last long most likely do to the net really taking off in the 90s. Had that not happened youd probably be showing a id to use a pizza coupon to make sure the name on it matched your real name.
NewnImproved
join:2014-11-07

NewnImproved to carpetshark3

Member

to carpetshark3
Another one came todayOk. Let me be a little clearer.i'm not of age where these ads would make sense. I'm 35 and I just got today!!!!! In the mail a local dentist LOCAL with Red plum on ita mailer for discount on dentures..which I need we just searched for a place just over a week ago like 10 days?. Ok there is an algorithm and a boot behind this I can totally tell. Any smart man knows 4 times of the same thing happening is now fact not theory or hypothesis. We unknowingly reproduced the result I was after. Now i'm going to try to get someone to tear her computer apart and see how its doing it. My gf isn't dumb as a matter of fact she's a freakin genius. She's corporate and does algorithmic formulas for a huge casino, so yeah there's that. There is not a TRACE of me on social media sites especially what i'm going through with my health. I've only lived here in this state for about a year. My girlfriend had told nobody for my own private reasons. She calls me into the office and says hey, that program you installed (teatimer from spybotsearch n destroy) told me this might be infected should I click install I really want the coupons. So I go research it and I find that mostly they claim that its for tracking purposes. I read the whole thing on here. The rep jumped on, I could see his beaurocratically trained language style, "oh come talk to me privately, not here on a forum about security" we all know that tactic among others he used. Here is the only thing that is on gfs computer, searches on my health problems, purchases on Amazon, and so on. She used ONE coupon printer. On her PC not mine. So that's all I can muster. This mailer I got scares the shit out of me now. We really are living in these times aren't we..?
NewnImproved

NewnImproved to Chubbzie

Member

to Chubbzie
They got some lawyers that penned all of it. I too have some lawyers. There IS a law broken here. I don't care how "convenient" this company wants to make itself look. What they claim is that they use it to limit the amount of coupons printed by getting int IP but it goes way further than that. Let me jump ahead to show you the liberties they took. 1.I myself did not disclose any information to anyone in red plum about my health concerns. They themselves somehow obtained this info to tailor the exact ads they think I want to see or would most likely buy. In my case every mailer was exactly what I wanted to buy and or purchase. 2. The .exe had to have obtained information across my LAN from my PC or phone because the mailer I got today I searched for a local dentist from MY computer only.
Do you know that Valassis and Red Plum are not only Not Accredited on the better business bureau, their not even listed as existing. Something is up and I kind of really stony hey the feeling that any of you people on this forum aside from the guy that said he'd actually go there, will do anything about this. Almost all of the responses said couldnt b. Nope no way, your credit card bla bla. I see why this country is in the can and the one that matters truly is the informational war. Remember Hillary saying it? Yeah she didn't mean with the Chinese. We are being manipulated into thinking this is safe.. It is not safe. This world had the dark ages, why? Because Rome. Who are we exactly like now? What historical mistakes keep showing up? Well that's for another time. Gotta call my lawyer.

Chubbzie
join:2014-02-11
Greenville, NC
Hitron CDA3
(Software) OpenBSD + pf

Chubbzie

Member

said by NewnImproved:

kind of really stony

Why do you expect us to do something about a problem you are dealing with? I didn't say yay or nay regarding anything, just posted their privacy clause.
said by NewnImproved:

We are being manipulated into thinking this is safe.. It is not safe.

Since things like this are discussed on a daily basis in these forums as well as many of us have backgrounds in the security field, we're quite aware of the unsafe nature of things.

Snowy
Lock him up!!!
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI

2 recommendations

Snowy to NewnImproved

Premium Member

to NewnImproved

Re: Thats hilarious.

said by NewnImproved :

... I live with my girlfriend and am very very private.

You've been a site member for a day & I already know more about you/you're GF than I know about site members I've known for 10 years.

As I mentioned earlier, staying anon is not a passive activity.
If I were you with the same concerns I'd (politely & professionally) take the local dentist coupon to the dentist's office & ask them who they contracted with & act on that info.

btw Welcome to the site.
Nanaki (banned)
aka novaflare. pull punches? Na
join:2002-01-24
Akron, OH

Nanaki (banned)

Member

Yep my thinking to. Thing about this is simple. These programs and extensions track every thing. All he or his gf needed to do was search for any thing related even once. This is recorded and ent to the servers owned by the tool bars installer. Ten to one their browser home page and default search has been changed to the likes of conduit crap.Various home page highjackers can track every url you visit and every term typed in to it. If i had a comp so compromised come in i recommend reformating and re-installing.

Some have me do it others opt for a standard clean up. But truth is and i tell them this that computer can not be 100% trusted until it is reformated and re installed. I can not say 100% that every trace is gone after a clean up it just is not possible today hell it never was.
Honestly there are some types of crap out there that can survive a reformat for crying out loud rare as hell sure but they exist.
redwolfe_98
Premium Member
join:2001-06-11

1 edit

redwolfe_98 to NewnImproved

Premium Member

to NewnImproved

Re: UPDATE!!!COUPON PRINTER PROGRAM MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!

here is a webpage where you can unsubscribe to redplum coupons:

»www.redplum.com/tools/re ··· ove.html

(lol)

carpetshark3
Premium Member
join:2004-02-12
Idledale, CO

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Local businesses can buy lists of home and property owners. Those are open records kept by the city. You could get a list. A dentist could pay someone for a list of all homeowners within a mile of his office, and while it can be a pain - it's legal. At least he got the info from city records and not your computer.

It's the sneaky ones - store asks for your email or zip code. I won't give it to them.
Little snippets of info someone wants about family, friends even in conversation.

You aren't the only one to be fooled.

»article.wn.com/view/2014 ··· ee_WiFi/
NewnImproved
join:2014-11-07

NewnImproved to Nanaki

Member

to Nanaki

Re: Thats hilarious.

hey novaflare. The browser she is using is mozilla and has been using private windows only(no cookies search history) also with the Disconnect extension. This is more than cookies. I set her computer up when I moved in. I'm going to let it stand for now. I don't think highjack this or ccleaner or any of these. I want to try to monitor all behaviors before I refor. thanks
NewnImproved

NewnImproved to Snowy

Member

to Snowy
Thank you for the warm welcome Snowy. Like I've said. Never posted in forums. I'm a private person and this is a 1st. I don't expect anyone to sell my info on here either but I don't live by expectations I live by rules. People don't know anything about me unless I want them to. Someone now knows info about me that I didn't want them to know. Not because I care what they know, I don't even care about the why. I know it's money. To me it's about the HOW. There are alot of people bitching and moaning about the practices of this company and why they refuse to remove them from their mailing lists and I believe they don't because it's all automated. I want a peek into their automation and I haven't found anyone yet but there are people out there, I'm sure, have had their rights violated by this company in some way shape or form. I want to find the smoking gun here and I will. I have a person that can help me so I now know what I have to do but I will continue to be a reader of this site. I will not rebuff the comments that show me the poster has failed to read the entire thread.
NewnImproved

NewnImproved to redwolfe_98

Member

to redwolfe_98

Re: UPDATE!!!COUPON PRINTER PROGRAM MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!

unsub? why? I'm trying to find out if I even am subscribed and how.
NewnImproved

NewnImproved to NewnImproved

Member

to NewnImproved
That may be true carpetshark but understand this. Not only do I not even know the zipcode where I live, for all intensive purposes, I don't live here. I never would have received this type of mail at home. This is not common of me. To speak in a public forum. People assume too much they don't know. Just ask me and I'll tell you whether I made any mistakes; conversations, social media, credit cards, zipcodes at pumps, questionnaires, post office mailing address, talking to friends, lawyers, Dr.s, etc. Here's an example of what's happening. I go on my girlfriends computer and search, lets say, massages nearby on google maps for example and I get a mailer sent in MY NAME for a massage place nearby in a week would that strike you as odd?? It's happened to me 4 times now. I have a friend going to help me with this so I actually got what I believe I need to find this smoking gun so I will continue to read and support this site as it does have very pertinent information.

Snowy
Lock him up!!!
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI

2 recommendations

Snowy to NewnImproved

Premium Member

to NewnImproved

Re: Thats hilarious.

said by NewnImproved:

Like I've said. Never posted in forums. I'm a private person and this is a 1st.

I will make no claim to being a perfect or even a consistently "good" forum member but you're obviously upset over the issue so here's a few tips.
Avoid posting anything that is likely going to get pulled by the mods.
»Posting Rules - Security
You've been a member for a day & already had at least one post pulled.

You'll get more with sugar than spice.
Your attitude has turned me off, maybe others too.
Who are we?
Were the people you've turned to for something, I'm confused over what role you are expecting us to fill.
said by NewnImproved:

I don't expect anyone to sell my info on here either but I don't live by expectations I live by rules.

Yes, we all live by rules, some rules we respect others we don't but we choose to pay the price of rules we choose to ignore.
Mellow it out.
You seem to be a nice guy in a bad situation - let the nice guy out.
said by NewnImproved:

I will not rebuff the comments that show me the poster has failed to read the entire thread.

Yeah, that's a good idea.
You simply haven't paid enough dues to have that right.
I hope your comment above isn't the poster you 'let off the hook'.

At any rate you've mentioned getting attorneys involved.
If that's true then great - good for you - you have more resources than most of us.
BUT if that isn't true - never say it - even in a bluff - once that's said people who may have some insight into your issue will back off & back out - who wants to get involved with potential litigation issues?
Not me.
NewnImproved
join:2014-11-07

1 edit

1 recommendation

NewnImproved

Member

got it

Snowy, I appreciate the tips and will make the proper adjustments as I have made a few errors and assumptions. One assumption I had made was that everyone was privy to, or at least aware, that I was led here to post only by a thread I read here on the same issue. It raised concerns and questions and the answer should have been a simple NO WAY. I shouldn't have given my gf the go ahead to dl that .exe. I came here, I saw what it was able to access, I didn't like the language the rep was using but I actually said this to my gf "Ah well whats the worst that can happen? they probably just want to know what you buy or print coupons for so they can tailor ads and/or track what kind of products do well in your area." I ACTUALLY SAID THAT.
Now that she has installed it, it's like it opened some kind of door. Another assumption I made was that everyone would have been as excited as I was after the third week in a row, after my girlfriend searched for coupons for products I get another mailer, then a few days later another. Obviously the increase, repetition and accuracy of these mailers had to be to a single location information point. I was stoked to say the least. I just assumed wrong that posting in a security forum that people would have automatically believed me. I'm the only one that knows how tight of a ship I run and even if I'm telling the truth.
The error I made was not scanning and posting the mailers to show how strange it looks. In retrospect it might only be strange FOR me. People get these all the time so there is nothing suspect. For the most part. Subjectively speaking, I know there is no way, not in this state or any other, that they know I'm here, what is wrong with me, or anything of the sort from ANY source. What I've written here is post-breach so that is no way an indication of what I say to others.
Finally Snowy, I just had the intent to take this and start chronicling with others so that they could help me along the way. If I rubbed you the wrong way I understand and for that, I am truly sorry. I know that's not why you come on here. Heck I know that's not why I come on here.Thank you for all that you do on here.

P.S. I've been sifting through about 25 mb of court docs and it is way bigger than I thought.
They aren't going to back off or back out either. I know now they don't even care. I'll give you a hint. This is HUGE. Rupert Murdoch (FOX) owner- News Corp vs Valassis (red plum) ANTITRUST = $300 mil...Edit. $1tril.

carpetshark3
Premium Member
join:2004-02-12
Idledale, CO

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Re: UPDATE!!!COUPON PRINTER PROGRAM MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!

Only thing I can really say - if you bother to pay attention to all the advice you've been given, you won't have the problem. I don't get much spam of any kind. Just the usual from city searches. Also not tied into any names I use online. I've followed most of the advice from here for years and it mostly works.

"But it's free and it's valuable" If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell. I don't give an RA if it is free. If you think it is, then don't complain.

That was one of the worst TOS services I have ever read. If that POS had gotten onto my computer, it would be uninstalled, computer wiped and backup installed, and the damn address put into the Host File. While I never used it, Groupon is in the file just in case.

Yes, I do get a couple of coupons. But from stores that do state they do not share email and so far, they haven't. I do use a throwaway address for them, though.

It isn't a question of "intelligence" either. It's more of a question of common sense and computer smarts.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran to NewnImproved

Premium Member

to NewnImproved

Re: got it

said by NewnImproved:

I know there is no way, not in this state or any other, that they know I'm here, what is wrong with me, or anything of the sort from ANY source.

I don't think you can be so sure of that. You can control what you put out, but in an era where every little scrap of info is hoovered up, stored, and correlated, it's easy to slip up. You also can't 100% control what anyone else puts out intentionally or not. And as you should well know, the vast majority of people aren't aware of the power of Big Data.

The coupon printer was probably just the final straw. IMO, some bit of information gleaned from its usage must've been the final piece of the puzzle that is your name and address. Once that link was made, the rest was history.

You're in the database now. At this point the question is academic, but I'd be wondering: what bit of information was it that finally connected the dots?

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

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to carpetshark3

Re: UPDATE!!!COUPON PRINTER PROGRAM MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!

said by carpetshark3:

Local businesses can buy lists of home and property owners. Those are open records kept by the city.

Yep. I get spam snail mail from people that do this all the time. And there's nothing I can do about.

Also many "public records" are now online. Again nothing you can do about it.

salzan
Experienced Optimist
Premium Member
join:2004-01-08
WA State

salzan to sivran

Premium Member

to sivran

Re: got it

said by sivran:

You're in the database now. At this point the question is academic, but I'd be wondering: what bit of information was it that finally connected the dots?

I totally agree.

Honestly, if you can figure out where that connection was made you could chalk the whole experience up as a valuable lesson and move on. At this point, the more attention you bring to yourself, the more you may exacerbate the situation. How many lists is this worth?
NewnImproved
join:2014-11-07

NewnImproved to carpetshark3

Member

to carpetshark3

Re: UPDATE!!!COUPON PRINTER PROGRAM MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!

I appreciate the advice carpetshark. I've always payed very close attention to MY computer and I am the biggest skeptic when I hear the word "free" you might not pay actual money for something outright but you're giving something. The problem is most don't, or at least up until recent times, consider privacy free. I have done some digging and that .exe is tied to a conglomerate of shady people and what else of all things? Yep, computer hacking. Three information is all there as to their motives. The why was never the question though, it was always the how. I'm glad (sort of) that at least it's not on my PC but if it behaves like most apps on phones it's able to access other devices on the same network and possibly even hashes or similar info. It's getting it the info from somewhere and I know its not me or my girlfriend. There is only one other possible source although not likely viable its the only other entity that has my info. Social security. I'd be hard pressed into believing that they sold my info to Valassis. Social security might be broke but they do not engage in activities like this. On the other hand, Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. Yes Fox News (who, as part of an 800mil dollar settlement has to distribute valassis mailers for 10yrs since'09) had been already been convicted of hacking. There's more to this story but just thought I'd clue you in. Also, at the address of (One Targeting Centre) look it up and see who else is on the same block and also owned by the same holdings as valassis. I have and I now see the connection. Its not as simple as trying to get off of their mailing list or wiping my gf's computer. They've gotten too bold and subsequently overstepped the law. I'm not afraid of them pulling up stakes and disappearing. I just need one more piece to this puzzle.